Real Estate / The current property boom in Poland is a bubble [342]

right, says the so called real estate expert. give your head a shake and leave the real estate to those who actually know what they are doing. There is more to Polish real estate than reading studies off the internet. Once you work in the industry then you would change your mind based on knowledge and experience.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]


take a trip to Leroy Merlin or Castarama. They have rods that have springs in them so you don't need to fix them to your tiles.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]

It isn't about sweating the small stuff. It is about being treated like garbage. Which some people here think it is their privilege. Where I come from people are pretty decent towards each other. Friendly, apologetic. I will never get used to the rudeness here. Perhaps in the States you are used to this.

Life / Hey, Nice Airport Wrocław! Or! Day #1 for an American Ex-Pat in Poland. [128]


you're still in the "honeymoon phase". Why don't you go down to Poczta Polska and ask the ladies behind the counter a simple question like "how much for a stamp?".....I am sure they would love to accommodate you.

Life / Where, Oh Where Do Poles Get Their Dogs? [18]

We got our Cocker Spaniel from an amazing breeder close to Poznan. I found a stray puppy last week that we were going to keep after some debate. We posted his picture on a rescue page and somebody fell in love with him too. So we gave him a new home.

Don't even get me started on stray animals. It is probably the biggest thing I hate about Poland. There are a few places that are genuinely amazing at rescuing strays- but they are few and far between. And then there are disgusting people who throw animals on the street. Makes me ill.

Life / Polish Positivity and the Myth Of Middle-Class Pretense, or "Everything Will Be Fine." [27]


no they are not. In times of crisis perhaps, but day to day life, Poles are negative.

USA, Canada / Buying a laptop for a relative in Poland (should we buy one in Canada or in Poland)? [10]

there are many tricks electronic companies like to pull on us.
There are a few websites about dvd players and accessing their region codes. our dvd player was uncoded so that we can watch anything from any region. It really is simple to do but each brand and model has a different method of doing it.

USA, Canada / Buying a laptop for a relative in Poland (should we buy one in Canada or in Poland)? [10]

I am Canadian, bought my laptop in Canada and I live in Warsaw. It works for me, however, if your relatives don't speak English- it will not benefit them. The operating systems will all be in English- which is useless to them. And more importantly, the keypad will not have the Polish letters.

Buy a computer in Poland.
There are many deals to be had here, it is just a matter of looking and the operating system will all be in Polish.
The voltage is not the issue. This is actually no big deal, all they would need to do is buy the proper plug- the voltage doesn't need to be converted like a hairdryer would.

Life / Grass is always greener? Poland experience. [69]

I am not going to argue with you. but you are wrong. I don't need to spend any time on a realtors site. I know Vancouver quite well in person.

Life / Grass is always greener? Poland experience. [69]


now I know this is not true. Vancouver prices have lowered slightly. Of course a house in Kits or West Van will pull those prices but there are other areas, even North Van, that has prices lower than that.

I live in Warsaw, just within the city limits. I know how much houses go for here. you are estimating a little low. Warsaw prices are notoriously high.

We have high speed internet, 99 pln per month. We found it last year. Before this company we have we had cyfa plus. It was a joke. It had a limit and I always had a problem with it.---you are not wrong there. Poland needs better options than the monopolies.

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]

If you are in Warsaw a few of Magda Gessler's are nice. U kucharzy is good. I believe it is closing though.
The thing about Polish food is that it is comfort food. There is nothing light about it. Even the salads are swimming in mayo. Polish soups are amazing. There is a nice restaurant not far from Ikea in Janki, on Magdalenka. Ocywyzna (hope I spelled this right)

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]


except now the food has changed in order to be mass produced. Gmo in everything, animals being pumped with hormones. The food of 10 or 20 years ago is not the same as today, and it is disgusting. They have even managed to feed corn to farmed fish.

It is sad and revolting how our animals are treated. I am not a vegetarian but the state and methods to which meat is produced makes me want to be one.

Poland used to have wonderful fresh meats, now that has changed too.

I just heard something how Poland is looking at becoming a major producer for kosher/halal meats because there is such a huge market for it. When that happens I will surely stop eating meat.

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]

why so nasty. he is not off topic.

News / Polish language diacritical marks at risk! [20]

I heard this today. It is ridiculous. How freaking hard is it to punch extra keys on the keyboard. Talk about flipping lazy.

Real Estate / Polish citizen wanting to buy a house in Poland. [5]

no, you won't be drafted.

Is this for your future use or more of an income property? People don't move to Plock--they leave it. I think it all depends on your budget.

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]


It was surprising to me because I never really thought about it, I imagine Bulgaria has some great foods also--but again, just never thought it would.

Probably for the same reason that you would never expect, let's say, Quebec to have some great foods.

Food / "Poland - it's the new Provence of food" [56]


Indeed the Ukraine has great food, as does, surprisingly- Georgia.

Polish food is hit or miss. I do like how Magda Gessler is trying to de-Americanize food, but she has an uphill battle. And she is a nasty, unlikeable person- which is revolting.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]

It is a huge drop for that area, but it is also saturated---however they still keep building and they still keep selling.

There is also a massive mall slated to be built here, it is supposed to be bigger than galeria mokotow, so I imagine the prices will level off.

Personally, I think miasteczko Wilanow is a clusterfcuk. The plan of it is a disaster. Funny thing- the American who planned it reckons himself to be a hero for doing the citizens of Poland a favour for designing the area. It is a mess. There is no parking, so people park on the streets so the streets are so narrow, the street numbers make no sense, there is only one entrance to the whole area from Konstancin and you have to do a u-turn. This area is one of my pet peeves.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]


I disagree. I don't believe for a second what is happening in Warsaw would happen in, let's say, Lodz or Lublin or even Szczecin.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]


no matter how many times you say it- they still won't believe it. Even when there are people with the market knowledge and work in the industry.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]


do you really think any Pole would rent a house for that much? Then they sit empty. Come on, you know Polish mentality.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]


you don't think it is true?

I have clients that are Swedes, Finns, Americans, Dutch,.....and this is what their companies pay for them to live in Warsaw- as well as paying for their children to attend the American school which goes for 60,000 per year.

In the early and mid 90's when there were many more expats here there were houses in Wilanow and Konstancin that went for 10,000 USD per month minimum. They don't fetch that much now. And many former communist opportunists made even more money.

I have two Finnish clients who live in the same osiedle, neighbours. Their rentals are owned by the same Polish landlord who has a massive house next tho the osiedle. He makes about 45,000 a month on rental income off these Finnish families and he screws them for every last grosze.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]

what is amazing is some here actually have the guts to say that because something is happening in their city it must be happening all over Poland.

And it isn't.

I have also got some houses/flats worth buying. And if you rent them out to expats you could make 15,000 to 25,000 pln per month. And this I know first hand.

Stop making generalizations based on where you live--because it is not accurate for the rest of Poland.

Real Estate / Poland Real Estate 2013 -drops in offer prices, lack of liquidity indicate market crashing [39]

well, we all knew I was going to reply.

I don't think the secondary market is crashing. I think the prices are adjusting to what they should be and not some over inflated price based on their equivalent in Warsaw.

But, having said that- we are seeing more businesses set up in the secondary market, like I posted previously, because rents are cheaper and the workforce is well trained. This will probably cause the prices to stabilize for some time maybe even slightly increase until these companies set up shop. But the fact is that the market is saturated- so buyer will now having buying power.

Work / Average monthly salaries in Poland's voivodships [12]

yes, but this is the entire point of the article. The larger cities have a higher average salary so when I get knocked down for claiming that the average wage in Warsaw is 4,500 pln- by those who say the average in Poland is 3,800pln- this article proves me to be accurate.

And this makes sense. The majority of countries have people with higher incomes living in larger cities. This is not a Polish phenom.

The fact is that Polish has a very spread out population. It is not like, let's say, Canada where the majority of the population live in larger cities. There are loads of towns and villages and I am willing to bet that if you were to add up the population of only the major cities- they would equal or even be more than the population of the towns and villages combined. The population is spread out.

So, because so many people live in smaller towns and make less money- they are making the national average on the lower end of the scale. But the fact is- the cost of living is lower in towns and villages and the work force is not as well trained so they make less.

What is the average salary of let's say- Lublin and Lodz as compared to Warsaw or Krakow?

Work / Average monthly salaries in Poland's voivodships [12]

and...the cost of living here is measured in pln, not Euros.

News / New uniforms for Polish Army [30]

how many of you have served in the military? I am willing to guess none. so shut up about the uniforms because none of you will ever wear them. Leave that to those who serve their countries.

Law / Demand for business space in Wrocław seen increasing [10]

chaps you are forgetting the Polish mentality. There are houses that have been for sale for over 10 years in Warsaw- and the sellers will not budge on the price. It is a different way of thinking that none of us from the west will ever understand.

We have a rental property at the seaside. You wouldn't believe some of the questions we are asked with regards to renting the place. Ours is only short term holiday rentals but after owning this place it has given us a bit of insight into the other rentals....and we do the opposite which has allowed us to be able to rent to Poles, Irish, Germans and they have all given us good reviews on booking.

Many landlords feel that they are doing a huge favour for tenants, but in actuality it is the other way around. And this point has yet to be understood by landlords.

Law / Demand for business space in Wrocław seen increasing [10]


oh for the love of pete.

if there is an increase in demand in office space- it means there will be an increase in jobs which also means that there is an increase in a need for products which require industrial space.

If there is an increase in jobs to fill the offices then there will be a need for residential space so the employees can live somewhere.

this is a basic description for something that is quite basic in the real estate industry, which is quite clear you know nothing about.

so yes we can always compare industrial, commercial and residential- because they are all connected.

as for Wroclaw- companies are looking to secondary cities to set up their businesses in Poland because Warsaw commercial real estate is much more expensive.

The employees are well trained and educated, Wraclaw is in reasonable distance to the rest of Europe, particularly Germany. And it makes sense to have a call centre in Europe because the time zone is the same as compared to the call centres in India.

For Example: Google, Nokia Siemens, Credit Suisse, and many others have all just taken space in Wroclaw.
However, I doubt that the residential prices will increase by much, the market is still saturated so buyers have more selection- they will probably level off for quite some time.